St Louis student is Pramerica Finalist

Year 13 St Louis Grammar student, Daniella Timperley, who has been'selected as a finalist for the 'Pramerica Spirit of the Community' award.

Published:10:45Thursday 22 February 2018

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Congratulations to Year 13 St Louis Grammar student, Daniella Timperley, who has been selected as a finalist for the ‘Pramerica Spirit of the Community’ award.

Daniella is one of only 20 young people to have been shortlisted across Ireland.

The Pramerica Spirit of Community Awards programme recognises and rewards post-primary/second-level students for outstanding volunteer work carried out in their communities, through an exciting initiative that provides recognition and generous financial rewards to the finalists.

The post-primary students will be presented with €500 and an engraved silver medallion at the awards ceremony on March 22 at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. This year the top two Junior Honourees will also receive an additional €500 for their

chosen charity for the first time. At the event, two of the 20 students will be named All-Ireland Youth Volunteers of the Year, receiving €1,000, a gold medallion, a crystal trophy for their school and an all-expense paid trip to the United States in May to participate in the Prudential Spirit of Community Awards ceremony.

Finalist Daniella has carried out extensive charity and voluntary work.

She first got involved with the charity, Women’s Aid ABCLN, many years ago by attending the Voices Group where she completed OCN Accreditations on mental health, domestic violence, self-esteem and understanding risks. As well as this she has also completed intergenerational projects with Women’s Aid in a care home in Antrim as well as volunteering at their Antrim summer club.

In 2015, Daniella joined the BBC Children in Need Youth Panel and represented Women’s Aid ABCLN. This enabled her to have the opportunity to visit other projects funded by Children in Need, read through grant applications and choose charities to be funded and organise events to bring projects together.

This experience inspired Daniella to fundraise for Woman’s Aid and, in October 2016, she organised a Big Breakfast and Street Collections which raised an amazing £2000 over one weekend.

For BBC Children in Need 2017 appeal day, she volunteered in the ‘Hugothon’ which was an auction on BBC Radio Ulster’s Hugo Duncan Show. This involved answering the phones for bids and also contacting the highest bidders.

In June 2017, Daniella travelled to Dorohoi Romania to volunteer at the Centre of Hope GLIA, and she raised £1500 towards providing food, clothes and medication.

Daniella has also completed three films with Fixers which is a charity that helps young people raise awareness about issues they feel need to be addressed. Most recently, she has been volunteering with Cinemagic and, in October 2017, Daniella volunteered at a Q&A event with cinematographer Seamus McGarvey who has worked on films such as ‘Along Came Polly’ and ‘The Avengers’. This month Daniella was selected by Cinemagic to interview Hollywood star, Sir Kenneth Branagh as he was awarded the Freedom of Belfast.

A statement from her school on her Pramerica Final selection said: “Daniella thoroughly deserves this recognition for dedicating so much time and heartfelt

enthusiasm to helping others.

“Good luck to Daniella – she has made her school, family and community very proud.”